Master Electrician: Move over SGHOM!

[bernmc]

Well. Haven't we been a busy boy! 14 hours last weekend polishing the car (I think I may be moving from semi-anal to anal...I'm ashamed to admit that there was a toothbrush involved... what's happening to me :o!), and then around 6 hours being an auto-electrician this weekend!

After some debate & thought, I decided to try one of the 'cheaper' HID kits - I got one that the guys on the FTO forums have been using without problems so far (I think this may be the one Zentac has got..?). £99 inc delivery. We'll see what happens eh.

Nice thing about the kit is it came with an optional separate wiring harness - complete with a 40Amp relay and 20Amp fuse. So you have a choice of doing things the usual way - connecting the old light hallogen harness directly to the ballasts to power them, or to use the separate power harness, in which case all the std hallogen harness does is trigger the HID relay. Power is then supplied on a separate circuit.

I suspect that a lot of the problems with flickery HIDs, failure to ignite etc are related to power problems. Gumpf on my kit said that operating current is 3.5Amps (equivalent to running a 40-50W hallogen bulb), but startup current is around 10Amps - equivalent to running a 120W halogen bulb (by power=voltage x current). I'm not sure what the Skyline's light wiring harnesses are rated at, but 2 x 10 amp startups sounded like a bit much. Besides, I planned to do a dual headlight conversion as well - the skyline uses a separate light unit for mains and dips. When you switch to mains, the dips switch off - not really what you want when you have HID dip beams. Using the separate harness meant I could use a feed from the high beams to trigger the HID relay and keep them burning.

Some pics:

All the bits:

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I fitted all the extra bits in relay/fusebox - two new relays - one for HIDs and one for dual beam - 2nd row from the top, along with two inline fuseholders. I drilled an extra hole in the side of the fusebox and put a dirty great grommet in it:

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Some before and after pics: I've deliberately not edited the pics at all, so they're straight from the camera to show the real difference:

Halogen dips (80W bulbs):

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HID dips (raining, surprise surprise :thinking: ):

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Single Halogen main beam:

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Dual HID/Halogen main beam:

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Parked the car at the top of the drive for illumination pre and post pics:

Dips pre:

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Dips post (/Rolf Harris: Can you see what it is yet?)

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Mains pre:

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Mains post:

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I'll have to see how other road users react, but the level of the dip beam does seem a bit high to me. May need a bit of tweaking...

Now. Do I spend another 100 quid and convert the mains to HID too...:yum:

[WildCards]

OMG, you've got a Peugeot!!

Bern, you is well anal innit, I reckon even K will bow down and give homage to 14 hours of polishing. Wheres the pics though oh wooley one?

[bradc]

I spent two hours vacuming the car on friday, and that was only the rear seats and boot, and it wasn't even that dirty. Thats the longest I've ever spent cleaning a car!

Bern - it looks good, HID's on the highbeam as well would be awesome

[WildCards]

I spent two hours vacuming the car on friday, and that was only the rear seats and boot, and it wasn't even that dirty. Thats the longest I've ever spent cleaning a car!


What were you doing it with? a wind up hoover.

[bradc]

no a proper one. Just getting rid ovf every bit of dust possible.

[djb160]

yeah any chance of pics comparing high beams? Awesome improvement in lighting.

[KHK]

is it 2nd hand HID or china made brand new?
i know china made brand new HID is roughly 100 pounds, but havn't thought about trying it. Keen to know your experience. Photos look great!

[bernmc]

New HID kit. Shop is RiceRocketUK on fleabay

No cleaning pics yet as it bloody went dark and rainy once I'd finished!

The pug is the son's ex-car which is now rotting frenchly on my drive. I'm going to start charging him rent :|

Not sure if I'll do Hi beam HIDS yet - need to do some more dark driving before deciding whether it's necessary

[Paul Beazer]

no a proper one. Just getting rid ovf every bit of dust possible.
Probably nearly 2 years of parked up filth in it!!! /pan

[Beastlee]

Would the HID kit for a Mitisi re-use the reflectors? Just thinking about a LHD conversion at the same time.

[bernmc]

Would the HID kit for a Mitisi re-use the reflectors? Just thinking about a LHD conversion at the same time.

All these kits do is replace the std hallogen bulb with a HID bulb. Same housing and reflectors.

If you want 'proper' HID units which replace everything, you're looking at around £1000.